Copper showcases country music veterans this weekend

Special to the DailyLyle Lovett will be one of the artists at Copper Mountain's country music festival this weekend.

COPPER MOUNTAIN – Copper’s lineup of country acts this weekend includes a who’s who of industry veterans.There’s the former country music chart topper, Diamond Rio, eclectic-genre bender Lyle Lovett and the female-fronted, pop-country constituency, Jo De Messina.”It’s hard to believe that we have gone from a new entity to being a veteran of this business,” Diamond Rio’s Marty Roe said. “Because it feels like we have just hit our stride.”

Diamond Rio and Messina headline Saturday, the first night of the three-day festival at Copper Mountain. Lovett closes out Sunday night, and The Gibson Brothers Band, among others, take care of Monday. Pre-sale tickets are available for $22 until 5 p.m. today through http://www.coppercolorado.com or by calling 866-416-9872 and all TicketsWest outlets. Full-price tickets are $35 each day. Multi-day passes are available at a reduced rate.Messina is on the road stumping her April release, “Delicious Surprise.””To me, the ‘Delicious Surprise’ is the dreaming, getting there without limits, without putting up boundaries, just having faith and working hard,” she said. “Dreams are meant to be followed and if your heart speaks it, then it doesn’t matter how far-fetched it seems. You have to believe.””Surprise” is Messina’s first release since her 2002 “Greatest Hits” collection and has spawned the radio single “My Give a Damn’s Busted” and five songs Messina had a hand in writing.

“Music has always been an enormous part of my life,” she said. “It’s not just something I do, it’s part of who I am. Songwriting to me is my refuge, a safe place to me where I can go to spell out my emotions, especially when dealing with tough situations. You could say that songwriting gives me emotional freedom.”Lovett is still pushing 2003’s “My Baby Don’t Tolerate,” though he’s less inclined than Messina to ponder the album’s meaning.”It’s just more of my songs,” Lovett said.

He has, however, relealed to the New York Times what he considers a good song, though didn’t insinuate he was speaking of his own songs, which have garnered him a cross section of fans from country, blues and rock ‘n’ roll.”A great song is a song that makes you think and makes listening an honest emotional experience,” he said. “There has to be an element of truth, and there’s got to be some sort of sincere connection between the singer and the song.”Chris Kornelis can be reached at (970) 668-3998, ext. 216, or at ckornelis@summitdaily.com.Vail Colorado